It Just Keeps Getting Better
Tuesday brought another sweet day in Alaska, one filled with lessons, intentionality, belly laughs, van switches, God talks, adventure and a whole lot of awesome. Perhaps by now the shine should have worn off - maybe we should be tired of each other, tired of the kids, tired of the work God undoubtedly set before us to do. The only tired that comes, though, is the kind you get when you spend full days engaging and running and giving piggy back rides and having conversations about Jesus with people you didn't know two days ago.
God's grace continues to go before the Alaska team. In my mind He's got a smile on His face, pleased with the way his children are responding to His nudges and overjoyed at the way they love so well. During this evening's debrief, after a full day of camp, we journaled and talked about what mattered today. Luke's journal had just two words, but no more words were needed.
Love matters.
Love matters when you travel somewhere you've never been, with people you hardly know, hoping to feel His presence in a way that moves you toward intimacy with Him. Love matters when you play tag with little kids who have had more physical and emotional hurt than anyone deserves. Love matters when those kids can hardly move because they're gripped with fear, sadness - even disability. Love matters when God's plan for your life includes people you might have never known but who now fill your days with laughter, encouragement and bold vulnerability. Love matters when God sends you...love matters when you say yes...love matters when He moves and you respond - not out of obligation, but because your heart is loved and its deepest desire is to love in return.
Indeed, it hasn't been long, but already we know that love is what mattered today and love is what will matter tomorrow. It's the reason we're here, chosen and called, to love and be loved. What a generous gift Christ has given us. May we respond in huge ways.
Kids are starting to really open up to us at camp, and as someone pointed out at debrief tonight, real connections are being made. Because of that, camp was pretty great today - though it did fly by. We spent some time hanging out afterwards - some hiked the property near the church, some went for a run, some took naps. It was welcome downtime after the stimulation that is 100+ squealing kids who in some cases use us as jungle gyms. Dinner was awesome, it always is (we are being served by a family of four who flew here from Georgia just to feed us well all week - quiet and humble servants who are loving us in gravy-filled ways!), and afterward we headed down to the beach. Aiden uncovered a gift for making fires, a few brave (???) ones did the polar bear plunge thing in the frigid Alaska water, and the rest played Spike Ball. It wasn't the beach day most of us are used to, but we were perfectly fine with that. We even had a bald eagle circling over our heads the whole time.
When we got home, we played for an hour with the group of college students we're serving with at camp this week. That group has been a blessing in the ways they've modeled service, energy and enthusiasm, and meeting together with them at night has been an unexpected joy.
God just keeps smiling on us. Tonight our hearts are even fuller, and we have so far to go. The gratitude we feel is tangible, its the 22nd member of our team.
We promise we'll love hard tomorrow...hoping you do too.
God's grace continues to go before the Alaska team. In my mind He's got a smile on His face, pleased with the way his children are responding to His nudges and overjoyed at the way they love so well. During this evening's debrief, after a full day of camp, we journaled and talked about what mattered today. Luke's journal had just two words, but no more words were needed.
Love matters.
Love matters when you travel somewhere you've never been, with people you hardly know, hoping to feel His presence in a way that moves you toward intimacy with Him. Love matters when you play tag with little kids who have had more physical and emotional hurt than anyone deserves. Love matters when those kids can hardly move because they're gripped with fear, sadness - even disability. Love matters when God's plan for your life includes people you might have never known but who now fill your days with laughter, encouragement and bold vulnerability. Love matters when God sends you...love matters when you say yes...love matters when He moves and you respond - not out of obligation, but because your heart is loved and its deepest desire is to love in return.
Indeed, it hasn't been long, but already we know that love is what mattered today and love is what will matter tomorrow. It's the reason we're here, chosen and called, to love and be loved. What a generous gift Christ has given us. May we respond in huge ways.
Kids are starting to really open up to us at camp, and as someone pointed out at debrief tonight, real connections are being made. Because of that, camp was pretty great today - though it did fly by. We spent some time hanging out afterwards - some hiked the property near the church, some went for a run, some took naps. It was welcome downtime after the stimulation that is 100+ squealing kids who in some cases use us as jungle gyms. Dinner was awesome, it always is (we are being served by a family of four who flew here from Georgia just to feed us well all week - quiet and humble servants who are loving us in gravy-filled ways!), and afterward we headed down to the beach. Aiden uncovered a gift for making fires, a few brave (???) ones did the polar bear plunge thing in the frigid Alaska water, and the rest played Spike Ball. It wasn't the beach day most of us are used to, but we were perfectly fine with that. We even had a bald eagle circling over our heads the whole time.
When we got home, we played for an hour with the group of college students we're serving with at camp this week. That group has been a blessing in the ways they've modeled service, energy and enthusiasm, and meeting together with them at night has been an unexpected joy.
God just keeps smiling on us. Tonight our hearts are even fuller, and we have so far to go. The gratitude we feel is tangible, its the 22nd member of our team.
We promise we'll love hard tomorrow...hoping you do too.
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